What is Southeast Asian democracy? Every Southeast Asian government ostensibly commits to democracy – but they also reject it as “foreign” or “western” in its inception and practice. This project asks Southeast Asians how we conceive of and practice democracy. It aims to document how Southeast Asians define democracy, how we practice it and fight for it, and how Southeast Asia’s great anti-colonial nationalists and intellectuals – from Aung San to Jose Rizal to Lee Kuan Yew to Sukarno – articulated it as they fought for independence. In so doing, it seeks to build, from the ground up, a framework for understanding what Southeast Asian democracy is.
This project aims to produce a) a series of articles on the meaning and practice of Southeast Asian democracy by Southeast Asians; and b) organise a series of trans-national workshops for Southeast Asians to discuss these principles and come together to fight for the issues they care about, providing pathways for Southeast Asians to easily take part in democracy promotion.
The web portal for the project is at https://newnaratif.com/principlesofdemocracy/. The portal includes an introduction to the project, a list of all the principles, as well as an interactive map of the case studies in the region.
To begin with the project proposed 12 principles for Southeast Asian democracy”
- Self-Determination and Consent of the Governed
- Majority Rule, Minority Rights
- Free, Fair, and Regular Elections
- Transparency and Accountability
- Checks and Balances
- Sustainable and Equitable Development
- Justice and Rule of Law
- Human Rights and Freedom from Fear and Hunger
- Freedom of Expression
- Freedom of Association
- Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion
- Historical Awareness
Thus far, the project has published four articles:
- Introduction: What is Southeast Asian Democracy?
- Self-Determination and Consent of the Governed
- Majority Rule, Minority Rights
- Free, Fair, Regular, and Representative Elections
And held five events:
- Self Determination
- Majority Rule, Minority Rights
- Citizens, Convene!: Free and Fair Elections
- Transparency and Accountability
- Power to the People: Checks and Balances
About the Articles
The articles have been published on New Naratif. The Introduction sets out the overall purpose and agenda for this series, and each article proposes a different principle of democracy for Southeast Asia, and uses a different country as a focus case study, while drawing upon examples from across the region. Self-Determination and Consent of the Governed looked at Singapore’s decolonisation via the creation of Malaysia between 1963-65, where it traded away certain rights in exchange for membership of Malaysia and concessions in labour and education policy; Majority Rule, Minority Rights examined at how Malaysia has tried to deal with the issue of race and the legacy of colonial-era racial discrimination in a highly diverse country; and Free, Fair, Regular, and Representative Elections looked at how Indonesia has sought to design and redesign its electoral system in one of the world’s biggest democracies.
Interest in these articles has been strong. In particular, the article on Majority Rule, Minority Rights, has drawn over 3,400 views. The article on Election was also very popular in the last few months leading up to Indonesia’s election on 14 February 2024 as people sought to understand Indonesia’s electoral system.
About the Events
Self Determination: The event was a first for New Naratif where a simulation was conducted amongst participants. Participants took part in the inaugural ‘Tjimang Tengah’ conference, modelled off of the Bandung Conference which took place and which defined Southeast Asian democracy for a generation. Our guest speaker was Wildan Sena Utama, a lecturer in the Department of History at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia and PhD candidate in history at the University of Bristol, researching Indonesia’s participation in Afro-Asian solidarity movements in 1950s and 1960s. He is the author of a book on the Bandung Conference titled Konferensi Asia-Afrika 1955: Asal Usul Intelektual dan Warisannya bagi Gerakan Global Anti-Imperialisme (Marjin Kiri, 2017) which is now being translated into English by LeftWord (New Delhi).
The simulation successfully encouraged participants to think critically about how Southeast Asian leaders would have thought of their countries, of self-determination in a post-colonial world, and how the final communique of the Bandung Conference was drafted and the impacts it has to this day. Participants seemed to enjoy the simulation, taking the opportunity to defend their countries interest while also getting to know other participants and most importantly, understanding how Southeast Asia’s understanding of self-determination developed during the period of decolonisation.
Majority Rule, Minority Rights: Our special guest speaker, Robert Hii, Vice President of the Society for Equality, Respect and Trust for All Sabah (SERATA), led the discussion, beginning with an icebreaker to gauge participants’ views on certain topics in order to set the stage for how democracy should be constructed: a process of learning and encompassing the views of all within a society. He then moved on to Malaysia’s history of nation-building, and how development and equity have come unevenly, especially to the periphery of the nation, in particular to Borneo. When it came to discussing majority rule and minority rights among participants, many were quick to note that in some Southeast Asian countries, majority rule is well protected but the rights of minority were nothing but tokens, and there is still much that is needed to be done in order to truly bring the democratic ideal to Southeast Asia.
Free and Fair Elections: This event was designed under a new format, “Citizens, Convene!” which sought to create a structured process through which they could create manifestos and plans for taking action. The participants contributed many ideas within the Jamboard, revolving around understanding the situation facing Southeast Asian democracy and how they would fight to create a better democracy with free and fair elections in the region.
Participants identified aspects such as wealth, systemic factors like gerrymandering, and a lack of class consciousness as things which require rectification in order to ensure democracy in Southeast Asia is truly free and fair, basing their thoughts on real life examples within their home country.
Transparency and Accountability: This event featured a presentation by Aira Azhari from the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), who went into the details and questions of transparency and accountability in the context of democracy. Using their expertise and experience, two of the speakers led the discussion on the challenges faced by refugee learners in Peninsular Malaysia as they grapple with the higher education labyrinth. Towards the end of the discussion, both speakers also discussed what the future could look like for refugee learners in Malaysia, as well as several opportunities for change. The event saw a significant turnout of participants from activist/refugee advocacy sectors, not just from Malaysia, but from other countries within and outside the SEA region. The audience displayed a keen interest in the topic; attendance rates barely fluctuated throughout the session, and multiple questions were submitted throughout the discussion. Despite the fact that the topic was heavily rooted in Malaysia, participants even from Indonesia and other countries voiced out their thoughts that the exchange of information was useful, and it was insightful to hear that similar challenges are being addressed in the Malaysian context.
Checks and Balances: This was the first event held in person (the previous events were all online). Dr Edmund Terence Gomez spoke on how checks and balances are key to holding leaders accountable in a democracy, and for ordinary citizens, they are fundamental to ensuring that democracy works for all.
*artworks by Karin Josephine from New Naratif website.
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